Anyone else favouring phone over camera?

I find I come and go with a preference for the phone or the camera. There's times I favour the phone since it's simpler and less hassle, it's less intrusive, I always have it on me and it takes photos that are good enough for many shots. Then something comes along I'm disappointed I didn't have a dedicated camera with me for and I make more effort to have a camera on me and use it more.
 
LeeRatters said:
Nope :)
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Completely agree, phones still can’t cut it in terms of image quality and also obtaining nice bokeh. Not to mention the lack of reach of course ;)
 
No for me as well
At the moment I’m doing macro Damselflies and Butterflies that sort of thing don’t want to do that on my phone, quality and background effects just isn’t there
 
Well, I'm not really photographing much at all lately. And even less on my phone.
 
I rarely use my phone for wildlife, insects it does not work that well. It is useful at times - once I was lost in a Colombian nature reserve and I took a photo and sent it to the reserve guard and got rescued.
 
Pound Coin said:
Unless you need high ISO. long lens stuff, macro, niche lighting, fast focussing, and so on.
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I do need these things for my photography. Occasionally, I do use a phone if it is the only camera I have but normally will take one of my cameras, if I expect to take photos.

Dave
 
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Musicman said:
I have an aging iPhone 11 which is now my primary camera for gigs because I know I will be able to get past security with it
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So I must confess I have had a longstanding itch to take something closer to a proper camera to gigs with me, but one that I could fit in a jacket pocket and not alarm door staff.

This afternoon I found a minty used Sony RX100 VII on special for a very reasonable price at Mifsuds, complete with a manufacturer's case, a grip* and a few months' warranty.

Coincidentally, a bit of money from the sale of some photos landed in my bank account this morning which covers the cost - temptation was too much and hopefully I should have it in my hands in a few days. :)

* they may stay at home for gig nights, but the case will be useful for chucking the camera into bag with other stuff.
 
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As with most things... it depends.

There's no way you could argue that any camera is as easily portable as your phone, because everyone always has their phone on them pretty much all the time, so any additional camera is just that - additional.

My smallest camera that I'd consider useful is the Canon G5 X. Similar in size to the Sony RX100 series, but I think not quite as portable. I ummed and ahhed between the two before finally going Canon as I already had a Canon DSLR. But even that camera isn't pocketable in the way I'd like. I often wonder if the Sony would have been the better choice.

The difference in quality between the G5 and my phone is way bigger than the difference between my G5 and my DSLR/mirrorless IMHO. If I couldn't take any other camera and just take the G5 X, I wouldn't be totally disappointed. It's not as good as a DSLR, but it's way better than a phone.

I've tried using apps that will allow shooting RAW on the phone but overall the quality is on par with one of my underwater PAS cameras. Everyting looks like it's been overly smoothed. Which is to say, it's better than nothing, but it's not great and you find the limits pretty quickly.

But is it any different to (for those old enough to remember) taking a 110 camera out instead of an SLR? The selling points are portability and pocket-ability, but not a patch on the real thing and all about the compromise.

The reality, however, is that most people simply don't care. Browse Facebook for any pictures posted by 'non-photographers' and you'll find blurry, over/under exposed, badly composed dross, then a load of comments from their friends saying 'Great pics'

The problem is, I'd also argue that in the right conditions, phone pics can look amazing. And at the end of the day, I'd rather see a good composition and a good idea taken on a phone than a super-sharp, but boring and dull photo taken on medium format.
 
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while out with my macro setup the other day I noticed some nice reflections on the river, I didn’t have a wide enough lens so used my phone (iphone 14)
To be honest was a bit disappointed when viewing them at home on a larger screen, the images looked nice on the ipad but when I zoomed in a bit on my laptop to look at the details the image fell apart the details just weren’t there
 
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A bit of both here. If I'm going out for a family day out, it's the phone or my Canon Ixus for me. If I'm going somewhere scenic or on my own, I use my dslr.
 
Anybody but me thinking of binning their smartphone?
They are nothing but a compromise. Can't see the screen in sunlight. Keypad too small for my fingers. A tablet is better for social media. A camera for photographs. A pc for editing internet and documents etc. I have a 32 inch monitor why look at stuff on a 6 inch screen?
A Nokia flip dumb phone is the way to go. My smart phone stays in the house, I only talk to my wife on it, and she is usually with me.
I suppose it's because I still hanker for the days when the only phones were attached to the house wall
 
I'll ask the question again.
Unless you are a paid professional. why do you need "better" than a smart phone?
Be honest with yourselves, how often do you take your slr/mirorless camera out, take 1000 pictures, then go home and delete them all?
Yes, I have high end digital cameras and lenses, but that's just because I love the engineering that goes into them.
 
I've just bought a used, small travel camera (Panasonic tz70), because I don't like using my phone as a camera. It doesn't feel intuitive when using my phone, I feel much more at home with the feeling of a camera in my hands and using a view finder. I take my "proper" camera out with me at the weekends on my dog walks and use it for my still life photography, because my phone can't can't do what my camera can (off camera flash control).
 
soupdragon said:
I'll ask the question again.
Unless you are a paid professional. why do you need "better" than a smart phone?
Be honest with yourselves, how often do you take your slr/mirorless camera out, take 1000 pictures, then go home and delete them all?
Yes, I have high end digital cameras and lenses, but that's just because I love the engineering that goes into them.
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Unless we're paid professionals, we don't NEED any type of image saving device! WANTing is a completely different thing and, at a guess, most of us WANT better than a smartphone - at least sometimes!
 
Bigfoot77 said:
Anybody but me thinking of binning their smartphone?
They are nothing but a compromise. Can't see the screen in sunlight. Keypad too small for my fingers. A tablet is better for social media. A camera for photographs. A pc for editing internet and documents etc. I have a 32 inch monitor why look at stuff on a 6 inch screen?
A Nokia flip dumb phone is the way to go. My smart phone stays in the house, I only talk to my wife on it, and she is usually with me.
I suppose it's because I still hanker for the days when the only phones were attached to the house wall
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IF I could get e-mails on a Nokia 3310, I'd dig mine back out (and get a new battery for it). Although I far prefer a full QWERTY keyboard, despite my fat and often non-touchscreen friendly fingers. I'd be quite happy for the phone to be cameraless though.
 
soupdragon said:
Be honest with yourselves, how often do you take your slr/mirorless camera out, take 1000 pictures, then go home and delete them all?
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Er, in over 40 years at this game, I have never come anywhere close to this scenario.

Then again I very rarely take 1,000 photos in a day - possibly I might top 300 or 400 at a stretch, and I usually average about 40% of anything I take being marked as 'keepers'.

Maybe I just have very low standards? :D
 
soupdragon said:
I'll ask the question again.
Unless you are a paid professional. why do you need "better" than a smart phone?
Be honest with yourselves, how often do you take your slr/mirorless camera out, take 1000 pictures, then go home and delete them all?
Yes, I have high end digital cameras and lenses, but that's just because I love the engineering that goes into them.
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I find this question makes no sense to me. I use the kit I have chosen to make the kind of pictures I want to make. Whether I get paid to do it or not is immaterial, but a smartphone won't make those kinds of pictures. Also worth noting that some paid professionals do use phonecams for thier work. And why would anyone take and immediately delete 1000 pictures?
 
Honestly, if I wamt a good picture, right now, I'll use a phone, even my iPhone 11. For instance, sticking a jacket onto vimted. For the intended purpose, it's just better than say my leica. There is no denying the software trickery going on behind the scenes.

For photography though, I'll use a camera thanks. I prefer the ergonomics, puts me in a different state of mind. But that is it in a way, mindset. Lots of people doing professional work with phones. I just don't like it myself, it's pretty drummed into my head that my phone is a toy, for playing with when I'm bored etc, I cant breakaway from that mentality. A camera, it has one purpose.
 
I understand where everyone is coming from but from my point of view, I have thousands upon thousands of pictures all backed up and I can't recall the last time I looked at them.
Also, even from the old school slr type cameras, if you have a 1dx or a 7dmkii or any other high performance camera, it's easy to rattle off hundreds of pictures in no time at all.
 
I've just come back from about one and a half hours walk through Burgundy countryside. Took maybe 4 pictures, although if the light had been good I might have taken 30-50, perhaps.

Pictures are a resource to me. We've just framed and hung 2 that I took on film and printed myself, 1988 and 1990. I don't look through my catalogue every week, but I've a good idea of what's in there and have plans to print up some more.
 
No, not at all. Its been said already, but I think that phones are great for capturing a fun day out with friends/family etc, but the quality just isnt there for me. I have an iphone 14 Pro, and even using it on its highest quality settings doesnt give me what im looking for. Around this time last year, I was sent to Prague for a work event, and I knew that I would potentially have a few hours on the second morning I was there to escape the office and have a bit of a wander. After much back and forward, I eventually decided that I was not going to take any camera equipment, and just use my phone.

The morning I had some time free, I took a walk into the Old Town in time to see the sunrise from Charles Bridge. They looked fine on the screen, but as soon as I looked at them on anything bigger the quality just wasnt there. So, Ill never make that mistake again :)
 
soupdragon said:
I'll ask the question again.
Unless you are a paid professional. why do you need "better" than a smart phone?
Be honest with yourselves, how often do you take your slr/mirorless camera out, take 1000 pictures, then go home and delete them all?
Yes, I have high end digital cameras and lenses, but that's just because I love the engineering that goes into them.
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'Need' is tricky I suppose...I 'need' my R5 and RF100-500 to produce photos I am happy with. No more, no less.

My phone (Samsung S24 Ultra) is has one of the highest rated camera systems, but it can't come close to even this heavily compressed and resized image:



Oh....and i have never come home and deleted every photo taken on any given day.
 
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whyone said:
'Need' is tricky I suppose...I 'need' my R5 and RF100-500 to produce photos I am happy with. No more, no less.

My phone (Samsung S24 Ultra) is has one of the highest rated camera systems, but it can't come close to even this heavily compressed and resized image:



Oh....and i have never come home and deleted every photo taken on any given day.
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It's all about use cases.

A Rollei Twin Lens Reflex is a magnificent camera that was used to create some of the most famous pictures of the last 100 years, but it would be hopelessly wrong for your needs
 
I have an iPhone 16 pro, know nothing about photography, but have taken some pictures of jaguars on holiday in Brazil. I’d like to get them blown up, printed and put on the wall. How big can I feasibly go while retaining quality?

I’m not sure wherever I’m allowed to ask this (sorry if not!) but does anyone know a good photography printing company in London?
 
Sezzie said:
I have an iPhone 16 pro, know nothing about photography, but have taken some pictures of jaguars on holiday in Brazil. I’d like to get them blown up, printed and put on the wall. How big can I feasibly go while retaining quality?

I’m not sure wherever I’m allowed to ask this (sorry if not!) but does anyone know a good photography printing company in London?
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I think the answer is "it depends" :D

It depends where and how you are going to look at the picture, how closely you are going to look and if you are the sort of person who will notice technical issues and obsess over them. You might not know what digital noise, grain or smearing look like and you might not care. From looking at the MP count I'd guess that if the pictures were taken in reasonable light and look to be sharp enough you should be able to fill an A4 or even A3 sheet and view it normally. By "normally" I mean at a distance which will allow you to comfortably see the whole picture.

In your place I think I'd look at the prices for whatever size print I was interested in and probably go for it. Any technical issues may not be too great and even if they're there you might not see them if you're not an obsessive geek like many people here on this site, like me :D I've recently printed and framed some pictures (not phone pictures) printed to fill an A4. The frames are A4/A3 just bought from a supermarket. I'm very happy with that size of picture and fame on the wall but even A3 would be ok. I don't know if I'd want larger, but why not?

If you do get them printed please call in again and tell us how happy you are.

PS.
You don't necessarily need a printer in London, lots are online these days.
 
woof woof said:
I think the answer is "it depends" :D

It depends where and how you are going to look at the picture, how closely you are going to look and if you are the sort of person who will notice technical issues and obsess over them. You might not know what digital noise, grain or smearing look like and you might not care. From looking at the MP count I'd guess that if the pictures were taken in reasonable light and look to be sharp enough you should be able to fill an A4 or even A3 sheet and view it normally. By "normally" I mean at a distance which will allow you to comfortably see the whole picture.

In your place I think I'd look at the prices for whatever size print I was interested in and probably go for it. Any technical issues may not be too great and even if they're there you might not see them if you're not an obsessive geek like many people here on this site, like me :D I've recently printed and framed some pictures (not phone pictures) printed to fill an A4. The frames are A4/A3 just bought from a supermarket. I'm very happy with that size of picture and fame on the wall but even A3 would be ok. I don't know if I'd want larger, but why not?

If you do get them printed please call in again and tell us how happy you are.

PS.
You don't necessarily need a printer in London, lots are online these days.
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Thanks so much, this is super helpful. The reason I wanted a printer in London was so that I could have a chat with them as to whether I need to do anything to enhance the photos first and how to best get the photos off the phone for them to print, ensuring it doesn’t get compressed or anything in sending online, but maybe that’s not an issue?

I also zoomed in a lot to take the photos so thought it would be good to discuss the implications with them and to see examples of what they’ve done before. I also don’t know whether to go glossy or matt, so again I thought seeing examples and discussing it in person might help
 
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Sezzie said:
Thanks so much, this is super helpful. The reason I wanted a printer in London was so that I could have a chat with them as to whether I need to do anything to enhance the photos first and how to best get the photos off the phone for them to print, ensuring it doesn’t get compressed or anything in sending online, but maybe that’s not an issue?
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They'll be compressed as soon as they come of the phone.

Unless you shoot in RAW and copy them of into Lightroom or similar.

JPGs are a compressed file format.
 
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